Noah – Always Trust God

Noah makes the faith Hall of Fame because he was willing to trust God at his Word, even when it sounded a little crazy. Despite all the challenges he faced, he did just what God told him to do. And the result was literally the difference between life and death.

Noah lived in a time where evil and corruption had infected the whole world and God had decided to wipe all of that sin from the face of the earth. But out of love and mercy, God spoke to Noah and told him to build an ark that would save him from the coming destruction.

Hebrews 11:7 It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.

God Is Always Leading Us

Noah lived in a very broken time in the history of the world. Sin and immorality were not exceptions but the rule. Despite this chaos, God still spoke to Noah and offered guidance and hope.

Genesis 6:5, 12 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt.

In many ways, our world today is a lot like Noah’s. Evil and brokenness are everywhere and it often feels hopeless. But God hasn’t left us here alone to just figure it out. Just like he spoke to Noah and offered guidance and hope, he has spoken to us as well. He has given us his Word in the Bible to guide us, given us his Spirit to empower us to obey and given us one another to help along the way.

Trusting God Is Almost Always Hard

Though God had clearly spoken to Noah, it wasn’t easy to do what God had said. First, it was unpopular. The world around Noah mocked him because it seemed so strange and because nobody else was interested in honoring God.

Second, obeying God wasn’t quick or easy. Building the ark was a long, arduous process that required a lot of work and was costly to Noah. Third, it probably didn’t even make sense to Noah. Not only had he probably never even seen a boat before, the whole thought of God wiping out the world probably seemed unfair or even cruel to Noah. Despite these challenges – Noah did exactly as God has commanded,

Genesis 6:22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

We are likely to face the very same challenges Noah did as we seek to honor God by obeying his Word. We need to have the same type of faith that Noah had to be willing to follow God even when it’s challenging.

Faith Made the Difference Between Condemnation and Salvation

If Noah had doubted God or refused to obey his Word, he would have been condemned along with the rest of the world. But because he was willing to trust God in faith, he experienced deliverance. And in the end, his faith not only provided immediate physical salvation from the flood but eternal salvation.

Hebrews 11:7 …By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.

Noah was declared “righteous” in God’s eyes because of his faith. That meant he was good enough to enter into heaven. We can have the hope of making it to heaven in the same way. It’s not based on our own righteousness, but the righteousness from God we receive when we put our faith in Jesus.

Noah goes down in history as a great example of faith because he was willing to trust God at his Word despite the challenges. If we would have that same faith in God’s Word, we could confidently face any challenge that comes our way knowing that God’s truth always prevails.